Five Reasons to Never Open a Lemonade Stand
by ThePessimisticRainbow
Summary: You'd think opening a lemonade stand would be the easiest way of fitting in, right? Not for Beth. She's recounting her story of how five different things ruined her lemonade stand. A Beth-centric AU fic.


A/N-** Okay, so I published a Beth centric AU. I'm** **not the biggest fan of her, but there are next to no fics about her, so I decided to write one myself. Hope this is an enjoyable, in-character fic!**

I've always wanted to do what my friends were doing, such as wearing the same clothes, listening to the same music, or having crushes on the same boys, but I never could. I was always too late on the bandwagon. Of course I would try to catch up, but people would just tease me for it in the end for not being "modern" enough.

So, after a little help from Sierra, our school newspaper director, I actually was able catch the next fad on time. Wonder what this fad was? It was working lemonade stands.

I was a little bit confused by this. I mean, we're in highschool. No one had ever brought up the mention of a lemonade stand until this point. According to Sierra, it's because the girls at my school want to stop people from thinking they're sluts.

I was really, really excited to start my lemonade stand after that. I'd finally have a chance at becoming a "somebody", instead of just that weird girl who sits with the nerds at lunch. Bu-bye Harold and Zeke!

But guess what? It was a disaster, mainly because of five different things. Yes, I know what you're thinking: "Only five things? I thought you were better than that, Beth! You're supposed to be the optimist here!" I know, I know. I'll elaborate on that, so here we go. Five reasons to never open a lemonade stand.

**First Reason: Lemonade is Apparently Really Bad For You**

I drummed my fingertips on the wooden frame of my lemonade stand. It had been an hour, and nobody had stopped by. I guess I could've been a little neater painting my "1 dollar per cup" sign on the top of it, and parking myself near an open road doesn't help, but I still expected someone to buy a cup.

Luckily, I saw someone heading towards me. Two people in fact. They were none other than the wonder BFFs, Katie and Sadie. You'd think they'd be popular due to the fact that they're generally well known, are pretty exclusive, and act exactly like a popular without even trying, but they aren't. The real populars blame it on the fact that there both excruciatingly annoying, which I have to agree with.

They skipped up to the front of the stand, flaunting their usual matching outfits. Unsurprisingly, they looked giddy as ever.

"Hi Katie and Sadie! Would you like some lemonade?" I asked, putting on my most cheery voice.

"Hmm...lemonade. Does it have any fat in it?" Katie asked.

"Why would there be any fat in lemonade?" I questioned.

"Oh, well Sadie is trying to loose weight, so I'm guiding her on what foods to eat."

"Aww...you're so sweet, Katie!" Sadie chimed in.

"You are too!" Katie chirped back to her.

Before the cold let out one of their signature squeals, I carried the conversation back to it's original purpose. "So, do you want to buy lemonade now thait you know there's no fat in it?"

"Are there any carbs located in it?"

"No, carbs are only in grain.."

"Monosodium Glutamate?"

"High Fructose Corn Syrup?"

"Artificial Flavoring?"

I waited a few seconds after the last question was spat out before answering. It would be hard to keep up in the midst of them.

"Um, no, but theres sugar," I replied, still trying to keep my happy attitude.

Katie and Sadie both looked at each other before turning back to me. "Ew, sugar," they concluded.

"So are you going to a cup?"

"Sorry Beth, but no. It's against our morals to eat anything that contains sugar," Sadie told me.

"Okay then," I concluded. Of course, I was pretty miffed that they didn't buy a cup just because it contained sugar, but I couldn't be mean to them. That was against my nature, and you don't want to see Katie and Sadie upset. It's not pretty.

So, I carried along with my lemonade stand, watching the two skip off, holding hands. You think it's not that bad, and that I'm overreacting? It will only get worse.

**Second Reason: Tempations**

About two hours later, there were still no signs of another customer. The scorching heat certainly didn't help this. I had sweat pouring down my forehead and on to the table. Gross, right?

Needless to say, I had urges. No, not the perverted kind. Just the urge to drink the rest of my lemonade, sitting in the pitcher before me.

I knew it wasn't illegal to drink my own lemonade, but I wanted enough for the customers, if I would ever get any, but then again, they were probably less likely to die of heatstroke at this point, so there was no harm in taking a sip.

I picked up the pitcher and brought it to my mouth. It started off as a little sip, but it soon turned into a gulp due to me not having self-control.

"OH MY GOD! SOMEONE'S RAIDING BETH'S LEMONADE STAND!" someone screamed.

I looked up to see Lindsay, who is probably the only popular girl I'll ever be ale to befriend, and the only girl more ditzy than me.

"Lindsay, it's just me," I reassured her.

"You are? Hmm...you don't look like Beth. You look more like a Beatrice to me."

"No, I'm Beth."

"But Beth's also a little uglier than you. Are you sure you're her?"

"I'M BETH!" I shouted. Lindsay looked at me again before running away, looking as terrified as ever. I was a little confused by this. Am I really that scary?

I looked back at the pitcher. Only half of the lemonade remained. I was tempted again to pick it up, but I really didn't feel like having another person like Lindsay see my drinking the lemonade, so I held back. Sadly, I was still thirsty.

**Third Reason: Accidents Happen**

It wasn't about a half an hour before my next customer arrived. I wouldn't be lieing if I told you my jaw dropped a little bit when I saw him. He. Was. Gorgeous. I knew from the long, chiseled torso to the surprisingly large chin that I would like him, and he wouldn't like me back, but he was currently wanting to buy lemonade, he had to talk to me.

"Hello? Are you okay?" he asked. Oh my god, that voice. It sounded like angels fron heaven singing and...

...I realized he was asking me a question. I had to slap myself internally to get back into reality. The last thing I wanted was for him to think of me as a mental patient.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Would you like some lemonade?" I asked.

"Sure. I'll have one cup," he smiled.

While I was pouring his cup, I decided to break the ice. Stupid decision, I know, but it was worth a shot. "So, what's you name?" I asked.

"Justin," he answered. Dear god, even his name sounded hot.

"That's cool," I giggled. "My name is-"

"Beth," he cut me off. "Your name is Beth. I know you."

I was stunned by his comment. How did he know me? I thought I was a nobody. Well, there was no harm in asking, right?

"How did you know that?"

"I've seen the dweebs talk about you. It must not be fun hanging around them all the time. How about I help you a little bit."

"You'll help me?"

Justin nodded. "Yes I will."

I was about to lean in to do something I never thought I would do before I heard a large splashing sound. I looked down at myself. I was fine, but Justin wasn't. Lemonade from the cup I was pouring him was spilled all over his lower abdomen and legs.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to get that?" I politely asked, my voice growing into a whisper.

Justin huffed. "No, I'm fine. I can clean it up myself."

"Would you like a replacement cup?" I asked.

"No thank you. I think I'll just buy my lemonade at the store or something," he told me. The guy sounded really annoyed at this point. Maybe his clothes were designer?

He turned around and walked off, leaving me in the dust with wasted lemonade spilled all over the grass. I sighed. Of course, this is only reason three, it will get worse.

**Reason Four: Rivalries**

An hour later, and no more customers had arrived. Had Justin spread the word about me spilling lemonade on him? Probably. Not that it even mattered at this point. The most logical choice would be to just pack it up and go home, but I was too optimistic to leave my ground.

Then, I saw two girls rolling another wooden object, at happened to be on wheels across the street. I knew who they were. It was none other than Heather and Courtney, the two most popular girls at my school. Curse my luck.

They flipped up a sign attached to the wooden object to reveal that it was another lemonade stand. Instantly, random people arrived almost out of thin air at their stand, waving dollar bills in the air.

I was enraged. How did they get so many customers in five seconds. Half the people there don't live in the area. Oh right, they're popular.

Seeing how I didn't want any competition at the moment, I decided to confront them for setting up their own stand directly across the street from mine. Did they even notice me when they pulled up? Whatever, I knew it was a bad choice, but it needed to be done.

I walked over to the stand, pushing my way throughthe oddly excited crowd. Geez, it's just lemonade. Once I was able to pull through, I wen around the side and poked Heather in the arm.

Heather almost dropped the cup she carrying becuase of the poke. Her whole body tensed up. She turned around and gave me an irritated looked. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"I'm here to tell you that you're invading my area for my lemonade stand," I told her.

"Pft. Whatever. You can move it over to the slums of the town if you want, but we're not moving."

"I was here first! You can't tell me where to move! That's my job!"

It wasn't until Heather chuckled that I realized how stupid I sounded. "I mean, you can't tell me what to do just because you're popular!"

That also sounded stereotypical and dumb, but at least it was the slightest bit logical. Unfortunately, Heather thought otherwise.

"Yes I can. Now leave, or I'll call Courtney's father to sue your parents! He's a lawyer, you know."

"That's unreasonable!" I yelled.

"Life's unreasonable. Now shoo!"

I stood my ground, my arms crossed. She wasn't going to win this one. Heather glared at me.

"Heather! Hurry up! We have six people waiting for their lemonade!" Courtney interjected.

"Sorry Courtney, it's just that Beth here won't leave me alone."

"Is that so?" Courtney grumbled. She tapped her chin a few times before an idea visibly sparked in her mind.

"Hey everybody! This girl needs to get out of the crowd! How about you guys put her out?"

Everybody was silent for a moment until somebody yelled out "CROWD SURF!"

In a matter of seconds, I was picked up off my feet on to the entire crowd of people. Let's just say, it wasn't comfortable. I'm pretty sure somenone stole too phone too.

Not long after being picked up, I was dropped on to the road, right on my back. "Ow," I mumbled, attempting to rub the aching pain out with my hand.

It was no use, they wouldn't go away. They were just to stubborn and shallow to do so, but that doesn't mean that I was going to leave myself. I wanted to stay. My father always said it built character.

Most unfortunately for me though, my stand was being dragged away by two other people.

**Reason Five: The Landowner's Policies**

I approached the two men dragging my stand away. One was moderately short and had his black hair grown out long, or at least for male standards. The other was extremely tall and bulky. He wore a Chef's apron and hat, along with a grisly expression on his face.

"Excuse me sirs, what are you doing with my lemonade stand?" I asked them.

The shorter man turned towards me, then signaled for the taller one to talk. The stocky man sighed, then began to speak.

"You built your lemonade stand inside a four hundred meter radius of Chris McLean's house, therefore breaking his policy," he told me.

"What? Is the guy a celebrity or something?" I questioned. This sparked the shorter man named Chris McLean's attention.

"Yes, I'm a celebrity! Don't you watch reality TV at all?!" he asked. I shook my head.

"Hmmph. Teens these days," he mumbled. "Chef, take her away!"

"Why isn't the other lemonade stand being dragged away along with mine?"

"Thats one just barely made it out of the four hundred meter radius. You just had to build about 5.5 centimeters to the left to not get taken away," Chef told me.

"This is ridiculous!" I spat out.

"Chef, take her away. She's grating on my nerves," Chris ordered.

"Can do, Chris," Chef obliged. He then picked me up waver his shoulder and a walked me about another four hundred meters away. He then set me down in the middle of the road, and left me there.

...

So, that was basically what happened to me on the day I decided to open a lemonade stand, and the five things that ruined it for me. I still had to sit with Harold and Zeke for the rest of the school year, considering that Heather, Courtney, and Justin all spread the word. After that, I vowed to never take part in an activity the populars started ever again. It would just make me even more of a laughing stock. Anthought being a nerd isn't as bad as it seems.

**A/N- So, was this AU amusing in any way? Or was it just a stupid story with a stupid plot? I'm hoping for the former. Thanks for reading!**


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